


Hiding

by Emily_F6



Category: Skip Beat!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-15
Updated: 2014-09-15
Packaged: 2018-02-17 12:19:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2309432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emily_F6/pseuds/Emily_F6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When she is fired from one of her jobs, all Kyoko wants to do is go somewhere and hide.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"No. Stop!" She froze in place, turning in surprise at the irritated man's tone. Turning around, she placed the cup of water on the table and placed her hands in front of her, tilting her head, trying to hide her pain and humiliation. "What are you doing?" He asked quietly, the anger right under the surface. She spoke hesitantly.

"Um…I'm acting as Liza…a Japanese girl who grew up in America and…"

"Did you even bother reading the character description?" He snapped.

"Of course! I…"

"I don't want to hear it!" She flinched. "Get off my set." She paled a little.

"I…what do…"

"I said, get off my set!" He roared, pointing to the exit. She could feel the pity radiating off the other actors and actresses in waves, and it only made the tears build faster.

"Of course." She whispered, bowing briefly, then scurrying off the stage and into her dressing room. Swallowing hard and biting her lip, she tired not to think of the numerous NG's she had received that day, the picky director impossible to please. He had been difficult to work with from the start, rarely offering any other direction than to tell the actors to come back when they could act. The fact that she was the third actress to be fired offered no consolation as she threw her things into her purse. Fresh humiliation washed over her when she realized that she would have to walk out the front door in front of all the other actors.

'Mio? No.' She sighed at the thought. 'I can't act haughty and rude…Natsu won't do either.' She nearly groaned. 'I'm left with Kuon.' She realized irritably. 'I'll bet Kuon's never been fired in his life!' She swallowed hard and pictured her Father's kind eyes and open arms, the thought only making her eyes sting more. 'I guess I'm just going to have to be me.'

Steeling herself, she stepped out of her dressing room, shutting the door softly behind her. She felt the eyes of the other actors and actresses boring holes into her, but the director ignored her pointedly. Biting her lip as soon as she faced the door, she threw it open and stepped out into the streets of Tokyo.

When she checked her watch, she nearly groaned aloud again. Ren had offered to pick her up after work today, but that was at five, and it was only three. The thought of telling her sempai who had never been fired (well…apart from when he was younger but he was so amazing now he couldn't possibly remember) made the pain worse. 'But if I don't tell him…he'll come to pick me up…and it would be rude to make him come here and have him wait…and what if he tried to talk to the director!' She forced her hand to reach into her pocket and dial his number….then hung up quickly. 'I can't! He'll ask what happened! And I can't talk about it without crying right now…I'm embarrassed enough as it is.' An idea struck her as she walked along the sidewalk toward the Darumaya and she pulled her phone out again, dialing Yashiro-san.

Yashiro-san picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Yashiro-san! Hi. It's Kyoko." She heard him start to speak, but talking and crying were hard to do at the same time, so she didn't chance him finding out, hurrying on to say what she wanted. "Um, please tell Tsuruaga-san that I don't need a ride home today. Thank you."

"Kyoko-chan!" She paused for him to speak, swallowing hard and keeping her face hidden from the masses passing her on the street. "He's right here if you…" He must have heard her sniff because he stopped. "Kyoko-chan? What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" She cried, wincing at the unnaturally high pitched tone of her voice. "Everything's fine. I've got to go. Have a nice day, Yashiro-san." She hung up quickly, his protests dying as soon as she hit the little red button, and quickly switched off the phone.

She was finished with work for the day, and the thought of facing anyone she knew at the moment was too much. Placing her switched off phone in her pocket, she made her way to the park, the closest place she could think of to the forest, the only place she could comfortably cry alone.

It was a sunny day, beautiful despite her private pain, and she felt the burden lighten a little as she stepped into the forest, the sparse trees shielding her from the world as she went deeper and deeper. Forcing her brain to think only about the path she was walking on, she concentrated on walking as quietly as possible toward the soft sound of gurgling water. Her new tennis shoes were quickly getting filthy, as were the nice jeans she had purchased a week ago, but she didn't think about it, training her mind on the sounds of water. 'Not yet.' She told herself firmly. 'I have to make sure I'm alone first.'

There was no clearing when she finally reached the water. It was surrounded by large trees on both sides, an oasis in the middle of the city where she could hear nothing but nature and the occasional distant car horn. Leaning against a large tree, she slid down, the rough bark scratching her back on the way down and littering her blouse with debris, dropped her purse beside her, and finally allowed herself to feel the full pain of the director's words. Finally well enough hidden, she cried, knowing that she was inconveniencing no one out here. Forcing herself to relive the whole thing, she played it over and over again in her mind as the humiliation and anguish washed over her again and again. Desperate to figure out what she had done wrong, she didn't notice the sun slowly begin to sink in the sky.

Kyoko jerked awake to the realization that it was slowly getting dark. 'I must have fallen asleep.' Unfortunately, there was no moment of 'where am I?' The humiliation, though fading slowly, was still there. 'I hope no one was trying to reach me…' The Darumaya couple would assume she was staying out all night if she didn't call…but someone else might worry. Digging her phone out of her pocket with almost morbid curiosity, she turned it on and was only mildly startled when it informed her that she had several missed calls and voicemails. Sighing a little, she called her voicemail.

"3:05, Mogami-san? This is Tsuruga Ren. Can you call me?"

"3:30, Mogami-san, this is Tsuruga Ren. Please give me a call soon. I need to speak to you."

"4:23: Mogami-san? I need to talk to you. Call me."

"5:45, Mo! Kyoko! Why aren't you answering your phone! Where are you? Call me!"

"5:49, Kyoko-chan, this is Takarada. I heard what happened. Call me."

"6:30, Mogami-san! It's Ren. The President told me what happened. Please turn on your phone!"

"6:31, Kyoko-chan, this is Okami. A young man just came by looking for you. Are you okay? Please give us a call."

"7:00, For God's sake, Kyoko! Turn on your phone!" She flinched at her sempai's worried voice.

"8:35, Kyoko Mogami, if you don't call me right now, we are no longer best friends!"

"9:00, Kyoko, please! I'm really worried. Turn on your phone!" She sighed as the last of the messages from her sempai played and checked her phone. It was 9:02, the darkness surrounding her like a blanket, and she was barely able to see the stream in front of her. About to dial, she heard a crash as something broke through the bushes, then felt a hand wrap around her arm. Squeaking loudly, she tried to jerk away.

"Kyoko!" Her heart leapt into her throat at his familiar voice as she sighed in relief.

"Tsuruga-san? What are…" She was interrupted by his strong arms holding her to him, her face against his chest. His heart was pounding loudly, and she was sure she would be able to hear it when he pulled away.

"Don't you ever do anything like that again!" he snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders. She dropped her head, hoping that it was dark enough to hide the tears falling from her eyes once again. Unfortunately, there was nothing to cover her soft sniff and she felt his gentle hand cup her cheek, then wipe away the tears. Without a word, he held her again, sighing deeply. "I'm sorry." He mumbled, rocking her back and forth like a little child.

'No! Don't be nice. I can't stop crying when you're nice…' She started to pull away, hands on his chest, but only continued to hold her, rubbing her back.

"It's okay." He whispered. "Go ahead and cry. I'm not leaving." Those gentle words murmured into her hair were all it took, and she sobbed against him, hands finding their way behind his back where they clasped.

"I do…hic…don't k…kn…know wha…what I d…hic…d…did!" She sobbed as he scooped her up, sitting down against the tree and rocking her, the soothing motion calming her a little.

"Shh. You don't have to figure it out now." He told her gently.

"I…hic…I was jus….just acting a…and…hic…"

"Shhh. I know." She finally gave up trying to explain and cried for a few minutes, her face against his neck, until she was able to breath normally again, with just the occasional involuntary sniff. "Better?" He asked finally, his thumb rubbing circles on her back. Unable to bring herself to be embarrassed about sitting on her sempai's lap in the middle of the woods, she only nodded. Unable to put the effort into keeping the locks in place, she felt them fall off of her heart with exhausted creaks as they opened and fell away as he stood, keeping her in his arms as he started back toward the road.

'Crap.' She thought halfheartedly, listening as he explained the tracking device in her phone and how worried everyone was. 'I'm in love with him.'


	2. Searching

'I wonder if we all actually have tracking devices in our phones.' Ren mused as the small girl seemed to curl up in his arms, resting her head on his upper arm. Occasionally an involuntary sniff would shake the girl, pushing her against his shoulder, reminding him of how angry he was with whatever director had made her cry. He had no idea if the President had installed tracking devices in LME employee phones, but he wasn't about to tell that to the woman in his arms. She shivered a little and he held her closer, wondering how they were going to get out of here.

When Yashiro had answered his phone during one of Ren's brief breaks, he had never suspected that Kyoko would be the caller. But Yashiro's growing concern had started a growing fear in Ren's stomach. The actor had put his food down and listened blatantly as Yashiro asked Kyoko what was wrong. When he had stared at his disconnected phone in confusion, Ren had pulled his phone out of his pocket and called her immediately. Despite his desires, however, he couldn't drop work to go looking for the apparently distraught girl.

Unable to concentrate, he had, for once, requested a break at 3:30 and called her immediately, once again trying to convince the girl to answer her phone. The call went straight to voicemail, leading him to believe that she had shut if off. About an hour later a costar called for a break, and Ren's phone was out of his pocket and in his hand before the director could say 'Take 10 everyone.' Still no luck.

At about 5:40, he received a call and nearly wrecked his car to answer it, mumbling an apology to Yashiro who was gripping the door handle and pulled the car to the side of the road. However, the call was no quite as satisfying as he had hoped.

"Hello?"

"MO! Where's Kyoko!" He flinched at the fury in the woman's voice.

"I have no idea. I've been trying to reach her for over two hours now." With that, his love's best friend hung up on him, leaving him momentarily speechless. Sighing again, he pulled back into the road and headed for LME to talk to Takarada-san.

Yashiro and a growing-more-agitated-by-the-minute Ren sat in the lobby, waiting for Lory to call them in. For once, the eccentric man was apparently in a meeting and couldn't be disturbed. A little after 6, he called them in.

"I just finished speaking to the director of Kyoko's newest project. Apparently she wasn't working to his standards…" Lory's tone told them what he thought of this, his irritation showing in his eyes. "And he fired her on the spot." Yashiro's eyes widened in shock, but Ren didn't move a muscle. He could remember all too well how it felt to be called out in the middle of a scene and told to leave. Finally, he pulled himself to his feet and walked out, not trusting himself to speak at the moment.

The drive to the Darumaya had never been so short as he threw the door open and all but begged the Taisho and Okami-san to get Kyoko for him. They were immediately worried and he cursed himself or being so careless. "I'm sorry, but she hasn't come home yet." Bowing and running back to his car, he called her and begged her to turn on her phone, telling her that he knew what had happened in the gentlest voice he could muster. Unable to imagine how much pain she must be feeling, he put his car in drive and began to circle the city, looking for any sign of the orange haired woman as the sun slowly sank. After 30 minutes, he could take it no more and called again, demanding that she answer her phone. Real panic was beginning to sink in as the sun sunk lower and lower in the sky.

Ignoring all calls from Yashiro and Lory, Ren started with the areas closer to LME, sometimes walking into shops or restaurants and looking around for her. Knowing that actually walking up to the owners or workers and asking would be disastrous for both himself and the girl he was trying so desperately to find, he tried to resist the urge to do so. Once or twice he was unable to. Still, no one in a five mile radius seemed to have found the girl. Then, forcing himself to stay calm, he began to check the alleys in the area, terrified that she had been kidnapped, attacked, or worse. After an hour of not finding her dead body in any local alleys, he jumped back into his car and tried to breath. 'Think!' He ordered himself. 'She was upset. What does she do when she's upset?' Corn was the first thing that came to mind. 'She hides and cries. But where…' He froze as he remembered the large park a few blocks away, tucked into a residential district that he hadn't bothered looking in to. 'Heck, the woods are where I first met her. It's worth a shot.'

Not thinking about direction or his nice clothes, Ren sprinted into the forest, wincing as the occasional branch caught him in the face and arms. Shoving the plants out of his way, he shouted her name. Logic briefly flew from his mind and he worried that a bear had eaten her. 'No, people are what I need to be worrying about…not wild animals that probably don't live anywhere near here.' The thought of her running into a strange man who then decided to have his way with the vulnerable young girl was too much, and Ren shoved it away, heading deeper into the pitch black woods.

As Ren neared the sound of water, he pulled out his phone and tried to catch his breath. It was 9:00 and he still had no idea where she could be. 'This forest is huge.' He thought in despair. 'Even if she is by some miracle in here, what are the odds that I can find her? It's too dark.' He dialed her number and begged her to turn on her phone, then kept walking. A few minutes later, he stumbled and crashed through a bush, then thanked whatever deity he believed in (and a few others) at the very familiar startled squeak. Nearly collapsing from relief, he chose instead to hold the girl close to him.

Now that she was safe and in his arms, he nearly forgot his other problem. He had no idea where he was. Trying not to show his confusion to the girl, he looked around in what he hoped was a confident manner and began walking the way he had come. Of course he had his cellphone, but calling and admitting out loud that he was lost was too much for his manly pride. Hoping that he had been right about the GPS tracker, he continued walking through the bushes until Kyoko cleared her throat. He could almost feel the blush through his shirt as he paused and looked down at where her face would be if it wasn't so dark.

"Um…Tsuruga-san…I can walk." She mumbled. He smiled a little at the embarrassment in her voice and, instead of teasing her about wanting to carry her, he decided not to push his luck and sat her on her feet, then slipped his hand into hers. "Um…" This time she must have turned red all over, because her hand suddenly warmed.

He chuckled this time, unable to hold it back. "I just want to make sure I don't lose you." She didn't argue, from embarrassment or agreement, he had no idea. It didn't matter to him anyway as he led her through the forest, hoping that by some stroke of good fortune he would find a way out.

There was no stroke of good fortune, and a half hour later, Kyoko spoke up again. "Tsuruga-san…um…I'm not trying to be rude…but do you know where we're going?" He was silent for a moment, wincing a little. "Because…um…we came from the other way." This time, he was the one to blush in the darkness. "I didn't say anything because…um…I thought you knew…" He finally chuckled weakly, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry. I ran out here so quickly…I'm not really sure where we are going."

"I thought you said our phones had GPS…"

"Well….um….it told me that you were in this park…but…um…not exactly where. So I just sort of came looking for you."

"Tsuruga-san! You shouldn't have done that! You wasted all this time…"

"I didn't waste it, Mogami-san. I spent it trying to find you." He made his voice as serious as he possibly could, and didn't hear another word from her for a moment as they stood still.

"I don't really know how to get back." She whispered, her voice turned toward him. He sighed and swore softly. "Um…maybe Takarada-san will come looking for us?" Ren certainly hoped so, and was about to assure her that the President would find them when her stomach growled loudly. He looked down in shock at the loud noise and she laughed weakly.

"Eh…sorry." She murmured. He shook his head, still surprised at how she could apologize for something that wasn't her fault.

"No. Don't be sorry. When did you eat last?"

"Um…noon?" He sighed.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, pulling her along. He couldn't believe that he had paid no attention to the paths he took as he raced off to get her, but then again, she had apparently had the same problem. His phone chimed after a few minutes and this time he picked up, wincing at the string of expletives coming from his old friend. Hoping that Maria was nowhere within hearing distance, he sat down on the ground against a tree and waited for his boss to finish. He tugged Kyoko down and pulled her against him, placing an arm around her. He wondered if she didn't argue because he was on the phone or because she didn't mind. He felt her shiver a little and move closer after a minute, and hoped that she wouldn't get sick as he held her.

"Where are you!" He smiled a little as his boss finally finished his rant and asked the important question. Ren named the park and explained that he had Kyoko, but wasn't sure where they were. Lory asked to speak to Kyoko, and Ren handed the phone over. A few grim 'Of course' and 'I'm so sorry's' later, Ren took his phone back and waited.

"I'm going to activate the GPS in your phones." Ren did an internal leap of joy. "I don't know why. I ought to leave you idiots out there all night. I would if it wasn't so darn cold. Someone should be there in about a half hour or so. Keep your phones on." With that, the irritated man hung up and Ren sighed, leaning his head back.

"You okay?" He asked quietly, staring at the stars.

"Yes." She waited for a moment. "He was angry with me." She said softly.

"He was worried. We all were." He countered simply, giving her a light squeeze, then pulling off his suit jacket and draping it over them. "He's sending someone. They should be here in about half an hour."

She stiffened suddenly as if a thought had occurred to her. "Moko-san!" She cried. He smiled a little.

"Yes, you'd probably better call her."

He listened silently as Kyoko was verbally abused by her best friend, then begged for her forgiveness. After she hung up her phone, she hesitantly placed her head on his shoulder. Happy that she wasn't jerking away from him, he placed his head on hers. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "But…thank you for coming to find me."

"Any time." He whispered, taking a huge risk and kissing the top of her head. To his amazement, a moment later, he felt a soft touch that could have only been her lips against his cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered again, and he was certain she wasn't just talking about him finding her.


	3. Staying

The second her lips touched the soft skin of his cheek, her brain went in to overdrive. The words 'thank you' nearly didn't come, but she managed to whisper it past the screaming in her head. 'I just kissed him! I…I…molested the poor man! Oh…my…God…I just sexually assaulted Tsuruga Ren!' Her face turned redder and redder as the minutes passed. 'How could I be so shameless! He's….he's going to hate me!' The thought made her freeze. 'He's going to try and avoid me from now on…and it will be awkward when I see him…and…and…' She stopped the thought there, surprised at how painful this sounded. 'I'll never get to tell him that I love him…' She shook her head. 'No. This is stupid. I could never tell him anyway. There isn't a chance in the world that this man would be interested in me.' Vaguely she could feel his hand around her back and cupping her shoulder, holding her to his side under the jacket that covered them. Goosebumps raised on her arms as she realized how close they actually were, and then she realized that her head was resting on his shoulder. 'Oh no! What was I thinking!' A tiny part of her brain gave her a nudge. 'He kissed you first.' It reminded her. 'He kissed you on your head, and then you kissed his cheek.'

She wasn't sure how to process that. 'Why would he kiss me?' She wondered. Despite her griping and teasing, she didn't actually think he was a playboy anymore. 'I have never seen him kiss anyone else so casually…actually…I've never seen him act casually with much of anyone. And I'm almost certain that he hasn't had a girlfriend since I met him. But why? He's the most eligible bachelor in Japan…and instead of dating some famous model or actress, he spends his free time with me.' For once, she didn't allow herself to grovel about the fact, instead holding on to the facts stubbornly. 'Why me?'

She was brought out of her thoughts by his warm hand rubbing her cold, bare arm. "You okay?" He asked her quietly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

'Talk about what…my feelings for you?' For a moment, she totally forgot about the day's events, but they crashed down upon her in a moment. "Oh…um…I'm fine." She told him quietly, realizing that not only was she in love with someone who could never love her back, again, she had just been fired.

"Are you sure?" His voice sounded worried and he shifted a little so that he was facing her, his voice directed downward in her directly so that her entire body was closer, enveloped in warmth in the cold night.

"Um…yea. It isn't really important." She murmured.

"Not important?"

'Crap.' She knew that tone. It never led to anything good. "I mean…I can't understand what I could have done wrong. I worked so hard on developing the character…I knew all my lines…and the girl's emotions were easy to feel." She sighed, giving up again. "I just don't know." She said quietly. He squeezed her gently, his thumb rubbing up and down on her bare skin.

"Are you going to go to the director and talk to him?" She jumped a little, surprised that he would suggest it.

"No. I wasn't going to. He…" She paused for a second, feeling her face redden in mortification and pain again. "He never told me what I was doing wrong." She all but whispered. "He gave me NG's all the time…but he would never tell me what he wanted. He would just yell and tell me to get off the set. And today…" She swallowed, determined that she wasn't going to do any more crying. "he called me out in front of everyone while I was acting and fired me." She felt him shift and pull her closer again, and she relaxed against his shoulder, smiling a little at his consideration when he pulled the jacket back over her arms. "I don't want to go back." She whimpered, fully aware of how sad and scared her voice sounded. He nodded.

"Okay. You don't have to." She looked up in shock. As if he could sense her expression, he took her hand. It was the strangest sensation. She couldn't see him do it, nor could she see his face, but she could feel his hand seek hers out in the dark, finding it, then covering it with his own. Almost as if by instinct she turned her own over, allowing him to intertwine their fingers, sending more goosebumps up and down her arms. "Mogami-san, there are directors out there that are not professional." He told her simply, his voice so firm and serious that she had to listen attentively. "If there is ever a director that isn't behaving professionally, either making impossible demands on his actors or crew, of if they ever do something to you to make you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, you need to talk to Takarada-san right away. It sounds like the director was being unreasonable, and Takarada-san has already spoken with him." He took a breath, squeezing her hand. "Also, I understand that you wanted to be alone." She could feel his eyes boring into hers even in the darkness. "But please, before you run off somewhere, tell someone where you are going." He reached up and she felt his hand on her cheek, his thumb caressing the skin there. "Okay?"

"Okay." She said softly, unable to refuse when he was being so kind and gentle with her. It wasn't until his forehead touched her own that she realized how close she was, and she closed her eyes as their noses touched. Before she knew it, his lips, which had touched her head a while ago, were on her mouth, gently kissing her for a few seconds, and then pulling away. There was a pause, as if he was waiting for some sort of response, but she didn't have one. Instead, she summoned every ounce of courage and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head in the crook of neck and shoulder. She could almost feel the breathless chuckle as it left his body, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her nearly into his lap. She was blushing so brightly that she was sure she was glowing in the dark, but he didn't comment as he ran his hand up and down her back. She knew that there would soon be a team of people arriving to escort her and Ren to the President's office where she would most likely receive the scolding of a life time. She also knew that it would take a lot of begging on her part to get Moko-san to speak civilly to her again, and that the Darumaya couple would need to be apologized to. Most importantly, she knew that eventually she would actually have to speak to Ren, her esteemed sempai and the number one actor in the country, about her feelings for him and, most likely, his feeling for her, and how all of this was going to work. But at the moment, all she wanted to do was rest in his arms, knowing that she was perfectly safe with someone that she loved.


End file.
